Monday 17 September 2012 09.10 EDT
First published on Monday 17 September 2012 09.10 EDT

Is Britain becoming more anxious and less tolerant? The answer is that we are less keen on the idea of coalition government, we are less satisfied with the NHS - and we think there should be less spending on benefits.

If you want to know what the UK thinks, you go to the British Social Attitudes Survey, run by NatCen, which has surveyed over 85,000 people in the last three decades about their attitudes to government, morality, health and happiness.

The 29th report this year poses questions for politicians of all parties - and NatCen has given us key historic data for you to download and play with. This is what it shows.

How Britain feels about politicians

Only 9% of us trust politicians either a great deal or a lot, compared to 58% who trust the police the same amount. One in five of us trusts governments of any party all or most of the time.

Meanwhile, coalition government becoming a reality has not led to fondness - the amount of people who think a coalition government is best for Britain is down from 40% in 2010 to 28% - and much lower than is high of 50% in 1995. Meanwhile, only 27% want to change the voting system, down from 41% in 2010 and the lowest score since 1983.

How Britain feels about welfare and public spending

Traditionally during recessions people believe the government should spend more on welfare. Not this time: only 28% believe the government should more on benefits,down on 2010 and only 1% above 2009. Before the crash in 2008, the figure was 35%.

In the late 1990s, when people were asked if they thought the government should have the main responsibility for "ensuring people have enough to live on if they become unemployed", 85% of them said yes. Now that figure stands at 59%, suggesting that people are happier with outsourcing of these services than they used to be.

The results can be quite nuanced: people have been asked since 1983 if they thought the welfare state encourages people stop helping each other. In 2010, at the time of the last election this figure had risen to a high of 38%. It's now down to 33%. Meanwhile, 15% of the population think the creation of the welfare state is one of Britain's proudest achievements.

There's a consensus across party support, too - with big drops in Labour and Lib Dem supporters who believe the government should be the supplier of benefits.

But it's not a straightforward picture: After falling for nearly a decade from a high point of 63% in 2002, the proportion of people who want to see more public spending, even if this means higher taxes, rose between 2010 and 2011, from 31% to 36%. Over half (55%) would like spending levels to stay where they are.

How Britain feels about the NHS

By the time Labour left power in 2010, satisfaction with the NHS had risen to an all-time high of 70%. The latest data shows it down to 58%, which is where it stood in 2008.

People were also asked how they felt about specific services, and this shows falls in satisfaction across GPs, A&E, outpatients and inpatients. The proportion of people who think things have got worse has changed too - up to 27%, which is where it stood in 2008 but not as high as the 49% of 1995. Meanwhile, ask people what the top priority should be for public spending and they say health - just above education. And 73% of people still oppose the idea of the NHS only being available free to the poorest.

How Britain feels about immigration

Immigration has always been a tricky issue in British politics - and the latest figures show that just over half, 51%, of the population think immigration should reduce "a lot".

Having said that, the number of people who think that immigration has had a positive economic impact has risen, to around 30%, up from 26% in 2002. But then, so has the number who believe the impact has been "very bad" - almost doubled from 11 to 21%. Interestingly, that view is shared by 29% of first or second generation migrants.

How Scotland (and England) feels about independence

The survey also asked people in Scotland how they feel about independence - and asked people in England about the impact they thought it would have on them.

A third of Scots, 32% believe the country should be "Independent, separate from UK and EU, or separate from UK but part of EU" - which is up from 23% in 2010 (in England, this is up to 26%). Meanwhile those who believe it should remain a part of the UK is down slightly, from 61% to 58%.

The report also compares how Scots feel now with their expectations of devolution in 1997, just after Tony Blair's Labour came into power. Then they felt that devolution would be better for pride in country, standards of healthcare and the economy. All of those percentages are much lower for independence.

It also shows that the majority, 63%, think Westminster should take the lead in defence and foreign affairs, rather than Edinburgh.

The survey also asked people in England what they thought about Scotland and independence. Some 30% thought Scots receive their fair share of government spending. But the proportion who thought it received more than its fair share is up to 44%, compared to 21% in 2000. And another 66% agree the answer to the so-called West Lothian question ("Now that Scotland has its own parliament, Scottish MPs should no longer be allowed to vote in the UK House of Commons on laws that only affect England"), the highest it has ever been. However, the majority of English people asked though that England itself should be governed in the way it is now.

About the survey

The 2011 survey consisted of 3,311 interviews with a random sample of adults in Britain.

Addresses are randomly selected and visited by one of NatCen Social Research's interviewers. After selecting one adult at the address (again at random), the interviewer carries out an hour long interview. Most questions are answered by the participant selecting an answer from a set of cards.